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About Us

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Published: Thursday, 25 January 2007 15:19

Greygum Software is Australia's most experienced developer of top-quality software for education. Our publications are designed for education rather than entertainment, and are used in schools throughout Australia and around the world.

Spring Cleaning

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Published: Monday, 23 July 2018 00:23

Well, yes it's winter here in Oz but it's still a good time to clean up.

Firstly, we are removing from sale some of our more venerable titles which, despite their tremendous heritage and educational values, have not been attracting sales for the last few years. Times are a-changing in the computers-in-education market and we have to recognise this.

Secondly, our sales of tablet software and downloads have soared while sales of CD packages have dribbled away to almost nothing. Another sign of the times. So we are withdrawing CD packages from general sale. If you simply must have the CD of a particular title, just send us an email and we'll work something out.

Farewell Mac

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Published: Sunday, 01 July 2018 03:01

Don’t Panic! This article only refers to Greygum software that runs on Apple Mac desktop and laptop computers. Our Windows software and iPad/Android apps continue to be available, popular and compliant.

Apple has announced that they will stop supporting 32-bit Mac software in the near future. This is a policy decision they have made to “keep their products fresh”. Changing our 32-bit Mac software to 64-bit involves a complete re-write for which we have neither the time nor the resources. And the new product would look and feel the same as the current 32-bit product.

So we are regretfully withdrawing all of our Mac desktop titles from sale now to mitigate the impact on our customers when the change comes.

FAX Begone

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Published: Tuesday, 09 June 2015 04:09

The poor old office fax has been retired. No one wants to talk to it anymore (well, almost no one - we get maybe one or two per year). So with some sadness but no regret we are pulling the plug. Most people order by email these days (Order by Email), some by phone (+61 7 5545 4237), and some by letter (shudder)

Fitzroy Readers for Android

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Published: Thursday, 28 May 2015 01:49

Fitzroy Sounding Readers

is now available for yourAndroid Phone and Tablet!

Books 1 to 10

Books 1X to 10X

Books 11 to 20

Books 11X to 20X

Books 21 to 30

Books 31 to 40

Books 41 to 50

"Lovely first readers! I love the simplistic set up.You want things simple for first readers - no confusing distractions.I'm looking forward to the next set of readers. :-)"

Android is a trademark of Google Inc.

Fitzroy Readers - New Levels for Desktop

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Published: Thursday, 28 May 2015 00:57

In response to even MORE requests, we are pleased to announce the release of two new levels of Fitzroy Sounding Readers for Windows and Mac...

Books 11X to 20XandBooks 41 to 50

Books 11X to 20XReaders 11x-20x is an exciting new level that enables each story, from 11 to 20, to be immediately followed by a longer adventure story, reinforcing all and only the sounds learned to date. REASON for creating the new level: early Readers up to 20 introduce ten new sounds (oo, er, sh, all, ing, ar, ay, etc), with just one short story for each. The new pack, 11X-20X, lets students reinforce each new sound in a longer story before moving on.

Books 41 to 50Children who are up to these Readers are often able to read simple fictional works, for instance Choose Your Own Adventure stories and the like. This is a great thrill for them. At advanced levels, Readers occasionally teach up to three new sounds. This speeds up learning without overburdening the now competent reader. Due to the systematic structure of the program, even more complex sentences are soon no problem. Notice how the special (i.e. sight) words work together with the spelling patterns learned. Together they help form a base from which children can 'decode' huge numbers of words - even ones they have never seen before.

Volume Purchase Program

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Published: Tuesday, 10 September 2013 23:52

How do I get a site licence for iPad software?

1. Site Licences for iPad software

Because iPad software is sold exclusively through Apple's iTunes App Store, we don't have control over the licensing arrangements. So we are unable to offer the same site licence that we do for our desktop software.

2. Volume Purchasing Program

Normally when you buy iPad software from the App Store using your iTunes account, you are allowed to put it onto up to five devices that you own. Because this is clearly unsuitable for schools which want to load up many more devices, which may or may not be owned by the school, Apple have provided the Volume Purchase Program. Enrolment in this program enables a school to buy bulk quantities of iPad software in the form of tokens, or serial numbers, which can be given to staff or students to use to download the software on their iPad. To find more details and enrol in the program visit… https://volume.itunes.apple.com/au/store

3. Discounts

Software bought through the Volume Purchasing Program is not necessarily discounted, but in line with our policy of offering schools generous site licence pricing on desktop software, we have elected to apply the discount of 50% on our iPad software when purchased in quantities of 20 or more. This is the only discount that Apple offers on Volume Purchasing Program purchases.

Fitzroy 31 to 40 for iPad and iPhone

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Published: Tuesday, 10 September 2013 05:00

Fitzroy Sounding Readers

Books 31 to 40

is now available for youriPad and iPhone!

Readers 31-40 introduce the long vowel sounds (e.g. a-e as in cake). This single feature enables children to decode a very large set of new words.

New Literacy Software

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Published: Tuesday, 21 May 2013 05:57

Developed in partnership with Publishing & Data (Bruce Mitchell), Sound English is a unique resource designed to assist adults who are new to Australian English. Each package in the series contains 10 books which

have high-quality, simple reading material which is of interest to adults

support learners as they learn the sounds used in Australian pronunciation

Each book is accompanied by tailored Questions and Activities to reinforce learning.

Mobile versions of the reading activity are also available for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

Fitzroy Readers Books 31 to 40

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Published: Monday, 29 April 2013 01:17

In response to many requests, we are pleased to announce the release of a new level of Fitzroy Sounding Readers...

Books 31 to 40

This brings a lot more vocabulary into the software series. As in the lower levels, there is the reading of the pages in a human voice, and the sounding out of words clicked on by the student.

And there is a new facility in the program - what we call hints. As words get longer, we can often help the student by indicating that part of a word is itself a word. For example, if the student clicks for help with the word someone, it is shown as some and one - the parts highlighted in turn.

Another service provided by hints is to indicate where a silent letter occurs. For example, instead of leaving the word friend as a special word with no clues, we indicate in grey that the letter i is silent, then sound out the rest of word as a simple sounding word!

This program helps both student and teacher to a level never before seen in software!

Fitzroy Readers for your iPad

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Published: Tuesday, 25 September 2012 00:53

Fitzroy Sounding Readers

is now available for your

iPad and iPhone!

"Four-year-old Riley just loves his Fitzroy Readers. His reading skills have improved dramatically and it's just so easy for him to use. Highly recommended!"

Lion Eats Software

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Published: Thursday, 14 July 2011 10:44

With the release of Mac OS X 10.7 "Lion", Apple have withdrawn support for PowerPC applications (Rosetta). Fortunately, only a handful of our more venerable titles are affected. We have worked feverishly to produce compliant (Intel) versions of these titles, and have released free patches where possible.

If you order a replacement CD or full retail package, please mention that it is for the Lion upgrade.

Fitzroy Sounding Readers Released

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Published: Friday, 06 May 2011 10:34

New Software

New Activities

New Teacher Functions

Fitzroy Sounding Readers is the latest result of collaboration between Greygum Software and Fitzroy Programs. The software features the popular Fitzroy Readers books which use the Phonics Method to teach reading...

"The phonic approach starts with the sounds of the alphabet. Children are exposed to simple words first, such as cat and picnic. They sound them out, letter by letter. Then they are gradually introduced to the sounds of the typical letter-patterns of English, such as ch and aw and tion.

This approach opens their eyes to a vast vocabulary from an early age. They can read, for themselves, many words in the world outside of school. This is rewarding and motivating for them. We at Fitzroy Programs have received many messages of thanks from teachers and parents. We are often told that a child's reading confidence has been restored."

The software reads each page of the stories aloud, in a pre-recorded Australian voice, and a moving underline (optionally) highlights each word as it is spoken. This allows children to associate the sound of each word with its printed appearance and its meaning – which is what reading is all about! Students can also click on any word to hear it. Importantly, if the student clicks on a phonic word, the computer sounds out the components of the word, as well as the word itself. Hence "sounding" readers.

Each story is accompanied by a series of questions designed to reinforce and test the concepts and sounds of the story. Also, each book has activities that provide practice with sounds, spelling, special words, grammar, word-formation, vocabulary, and comprehension.

Spinout Stories Goes Mobile

Spinout Red and Spinout Blue are now available for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

Spinout Stories are collections of high interest stories especially designed to appeal to upper primary and lower secondary students who are still struggling with literacy.

The stories are also suitable for use in Adult Literacy programs and for students of English as a Second Language (ESL).

Each story is available at three levels of reading difficulty, allowing the student to start at a suitably easy level and progress at gentle stages through to more demanding words and sentence constructions.

UM on the iPad

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Published: Thursday, 27 May 2010 10:31

The Land of UM is now available on the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

The mobile version of Land of UM for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch is now available from the iTunes App Store. This version does not include the world editor that the desktop version has, but includes the six standard worlds each with twenty-five rooms - 150 levels in all! - , and room and world timers for competition.

Stocktake Sale

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Published: Monday, 15 June 2009 14:55

While stocks last, we are clearing out old copies of Kraken , Crossing the Mountains , and Desert Quest at HALF PRICE. These packs have been sitting on the shelves for too long and the packaging is starting to look a bit tired. BUT THE SOFTWARE IS STILL AS ENGAGING, INSTRUCTIVE AND ENTERTAINING AS EVER!

Shipping within Australia is $11.00 inc. GST regardless of the size of your order.

Act 6 Has Landed!

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Published: Monday, 20 April 2009 13:53

Greygum Software proudly announces the latest in the enormously popular Maths Circus series.

Act 6 continues the tradition of engrossing and original puzzles which engage students and encourage an abiding interest in practical mathematics.

Build a bridge, fly a balloon, mow a lawn. Twelve puzzles each with ten levels of difficulty present challenges to children of all ages.

Teachers around the world have praised Maths Circus for the way it encourages children to take risks when solving problems, for its ease of use and for the confidence it inspires in children to tackle challenges they thought they couldn't handle.

PM Gems Released

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Published: Wednesday, 24 January 2007 16:30

Available NOW for both Windows and Macintosh…

PM Gems Magenta Levels 2-3

PM Gems Red Levels 3-5

PM Gems Yellow Levels 6-8

PM Gems Blue Levels 9-11

PM Gems Green Levels 12-14

Early Reading Software

Building on the enormous popularity of the PM Story Books series, PM Gems delivers new books, new activities and new technology.

Greygum in Papua New Guinea

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Published: Thursday, 18 January 2007 10:00

Greygum Software supports a school near the end of the Kokoda Trail in Oro Province, PNG. Each year since 2004, Greygum's David Smith has spent six or seven weeks at the school, under the auspices of the Anglican Board of Mission .

PNG is attempting to improve its secondary education system; currently only about 10% of the population proceed to year 11 and 12, and there is a desperate shortage of experienced teachers in this area. Martyrs' Memorial School is one of only two schools in the whole of Oro Province to offer years 11 and 12. Use this link to see a report on David's 2004 visit to the school.

Site Licence Policy

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Published: Tuesday, 09 October 2007 12:11

A Site Licence entitles the purchasing institution to install the software onto an unlimited number of computers, of any platform, and on to networks, provided that all computers with access to the software are owned or leased by the purchasing institution, and are permanently situated at a single campus of the purchasing institution.

A Single-User Licence entitles the purchaser to install and use the software on one computer at a time only.

Fitzroy Readers Universal

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Published: Tuesday, 25 September 2007 09:39

The evergreen

FitzroytalkingReaders

is now available for Mac OS X.

(including Intel Macs)

The Land of UM Re-issued

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Published: Monday, 19 February 2007 13:44

Ideal for the times when you want to reward your children with an educational activity that’s also wonderfully entertaining.

Completely re-written, The Land of UM features new graphics, new editor, full compatibility with Windows Vista and Mac OS X (Intel and PPC), but still the same head-scratching, beard-tugging, frustratingly challenging worlds.

Goldfields Revisited

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Published: Monday, 22 January 2007 10:00

NEW!!

Due to continuing demand, Goldfields has been rewritten from scratch, using the features of Windows XP and Mac OS X. Includes advanced Teacher Options.